


Unicorn Blood

by tscSNK (tsc)



Series: #ereriweek2015 [5]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Eren Yeager Has Heterochromia Iridum, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-03 00:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4079650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsc/pseuds/tscSNK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi makes an unexpected friend on his journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unicorn Blood

**Author's Note:**

> ereri week day five: mythology.

Levi was on a journey through the dark forest of Shiganshina when it first started happening.

He was on a personal quest to obtain a vial of unicorn blood, and had been for nearly a fortnight before finally finding one of the elusive creatures.  He stopped in his tracks and stayed as quiet as he could, all the while reaching for his wand inside his cloak.  Ever so slowly, he tiptoed his way towards the white creature, which had stopped to take a drink of water from the small stream flowing through the forest. Once he deemed himself close enough to the animal, he flicked his wand and muttered the spell that would soon stun the unicorn in front of him.

Levi quickly replaced his wand, and picked out a vial from another pocket.  He was nearly right up to the unicorn when a loud voice bellowed through the trees.

“Do not harm that unicorn!”

The voice was deep and startled Levi to the point where he’d dropped the vial into the fallen trees at his feet. He quickly scrambled to pick it up before looking around him.  The only thing he could see were trees and the unicorn still stunned in front of him.

“Who is there?”  He asked, heart racing.  Throughout his stay in the forest, he had not seen anyone else. 

“Do not harm that unicorn, or harm will be brought upon you!”

Levi frowned and strained his eyes, trying to see into the dark forest but it was no use, the moon was only lighting up his immediate location as the treetops were so thick.  The dark forest was infinitely dark indeed.

“I need this vial of blood!  It’s for a healing potion!”  Levi shouted into the void, still unsure of where the voice was coming from.

“Do _not_ harm that unicorn.”

“Please!  This is my only hope!”  Levi pleaded, stepping towards the unicorn with his vial out.  “I need –“

Before Levi could get any closer, there was a bolt of lightning striking between him and the unicorn.  The blast threw him onto his back a few paces away from where he once stood.  He gasped for breath as the air had been knocked out of his lungs and he pushed himself upright and off of the dirty ground.  He frowned at the space in front of him and sighed.  The unicorn had vanished.  The journey was failing, and he had to return home soon.  He knew it was too late.

As much as it pained him, he stayed sitting on the ground for a few minutes to gather his thoughts and his breath. The forest was silent aside from the leaves blowing in the slight breeze, and the only evidence that anything had taken place in the area were the black charred leaves where the lightning had struck. The smell of burning had already faded.

Levi made sure he still had all of his possessions before turning to leave in the direction he had walked from. He hadn’t expected the task of acquiring the blood of a unicorn to be as difficult as it was. He knew the creatures were hard to find to begin with, but he was unaware of the repercussions of getting close to a unicorn.

The man walked for what felt like hours before finally stopping in a small clearing of trees.  It was a good enough spot to set up camp for the night. He quickly pulled out a small bundle of fabric from one pocket, and his wand from another. Within seconds with a few flicks of his wand, the fabric had spread and turned into a tent.  Figuring it was good enough, he walked around his small campsite, putting up invisible barriers to keep him safe for the night.

 

When Levi woke up the following morning, he crawled out of his tent to find a small bowl on the outside of his barrier. He frowned and quickly took the barriers down before stepping towards the bowl to find it filled with a silvery liquid. He frowned, unsure of what he was looking at before it finally hit him.  Unicorn blood.

His eyes widened and his head whipped around wildly, but the forest was still shady, as the sun hadn’t quite risen all the way, all he could see was darkness.

He quickly crouched down and took the vial out of his clock once more and poured the thick liquid into the glass. He bit the inside of his lip once the vial was full and placed it back into the pocket once he’d capped it. There was still a lot more in the bowl, and he didn’t want it to go to waste, especially if he could needed it again down the road. 

Levi threw off his clock and started rummaging the rest of the pockets.  He had to have brought a few spare vials…

Triumphant, he managed to find two more in a completely different compartment of his coat and filled them both with the remaining blood.

Still unsure of where the blood came from, he wanted to get out of sight quickly.  After throwing his cloak back on, he flicked his wand to take down his tent and packed himself up.  Once he was ready, he made his way through the forest and away from where he had spent the night. It was time for his journey home.

 

The journey from where he lived to the dark forest took four days, so he was anticipating the exact same trip back. What he hadn’t planned was finding his way back to the road he had taken to get there.

He felt as though he had wasted an entire day trying to find his way to the edge of the forest.  He continuously cast spells to point him in the right direction, but it started to feel as though he was passing the same tree multiple times; as if he had been thrown into an infinite time loop.

Frustrated, tired, and hungry, Levi found a spot to camp for the night once more.  He once again set up his tent as his stomach growled loudly.  There were no streams nearby that he could hear, and he hadn’t seen an animal for hours.  He had run out of food rations a few days previous, not planning to have been away for quite as long as he had.  He pushed his thoughts of hunger to the side as he once more set up the invisible barriers around his campsite before letting himself fall into his tent to sleep.

 

When Levi woke up the following morning, found a dead rabbit and a map on the outside of his barrier.  His heart started racing in his chest as he looked around, but once again, only saw darkness.  Someone had been trailing him.

But he was not about to complain. After dispelling the barriers, he got to work in getting the rabbit ready to cook, and roasted it over a small fire.

With a full stomach, he took down his tent and got ready to leave when he remembered the map that had been left with the rabbit. He frowned as he looked at it, seeing that it was the route to the beginning of the forest.  He had been so close to it the whole time, he felt a bit silly.

Within the first half of the day, Levi was walking out of the forest and into the vast fields of Shiganshina. There were trees every so often, but it was mostly flat grasslands.  The only hills were in the far distance, which he’d have to cross the following day.

As he walked through the flats, Levi couldn’t help but smile to himself.  He’d managed to get the one thing he traveled for, after coming to terms with the fact that he had failed.  He wanted to know who or what had helped him, but there had been no clues, and he really had no time to linger and fine out.

When the sun fully set, Levi found a nice place to rest under a large tree, just off of the path he’d been taking. And once again, he set up his tent and his barriers.  He took the time to lay back and enjoy the stars in the clear sky for a short while before crawling into his tent for the night.

 

Just like the two previous mornings, Levi woke up to something on the other side of his barriers.  This time he woke up to eggs and a vine of grapes.  He couldn’t help but scratch the back of his head, because he couldn’t see anyone for miles around him.  He knew there were farms in the distance, but how did the eggs and grapes end up in front of him?

His stomach growled loudly, however, and Levi was done questioning it.  He started up another small fire and dug deep into his pockets.  He knew he had something to cook the eggs on somewhere.

He eventually managed to find a small cast-iron plate in the cloak and quickly got to work, levitating the plate with his wand over the flame.  The plate was so small he had to crack the eggs one by one, but he didn’t mind.

After breakfast, he cleaned up his camp and got back on the road.  His legs were tired from the constant walking, and every so often he’d get a twinge in his knee, which made him regret not bringing his broom.

 

Another day passed uneventfully and Levi once more set up camp.  The following morning he woke up to a half bottle of milk, two potatoes and a large yellow rose. Levi was starting to get really curious as to who was leaving him mysterious gifts in the middle of the night, and who was following him.  He appreciated the sentiment, but he was starting to feel uncomfortable.

That night he calculated it would be his last sleeping outdoors as he’d make it home the following afternoon. After setting up camp, he decided against the barriers and that he would attempt to stay awake for as long as possible. After roasting the second potato from that morning over a small flame, Levi crawled into his makeshift tent for the night and kept his ears open for any sign of footsteps.

 

At some point, he ended up falling asleep, though he was startled awake at some point during the early morning by footsteps. His heart raced as he held his breath to hear better.  It sounded as though there were more than one pair of feet on the ground outside of his tent.

Levi shifted a little, turning so he could see through the door-flap of his tent, but he couldn’t make out any silhouettes.   But then he heard mumbling. It was a hushed voice, almost distressed sounding.

The man in the tent blinked his eyes a few more times, trying to get his tired eyes focused before sitting upright. Ever so slowly, he pushed the flap away from his face to look out from his tent.  His eyes widened at the sight before him.

A large creature, nearly double Levi’s height stood before him, his hands running through his hair as he stared down at the ground. Levi’s eye’s trailed down the tan skin, right down to where the body turned from bare to dark brown fur. Where human legs should have been, there was half of a horse instead.

Levi had only come across a few centaurs in his life, though he’d never been quite so close.

The creature in front of him bent down and it was then that Levi saw that there was another bunch of flowers on the ground, though it seemed as though the centaur’s front legs had crushed them. As Levi’s eyes moved back up the back of the great beast in front of him, he realized he’d been caught. His own silvery eyes were met with two of the most vibrant eye’s he’d ever seen; one emerald and one golden.

“Oh, damn it all.”  The centaur muttered, his cheeks burning red from embarrassment, visible even in the dim light.  “You should be asleep.”

Levi blinked a few times as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on. 

“Have you been leaving things for me?” he asked, squinting slightly.   The sun was just barely coming up over the horizon making his surroundings dim.

When Levi thought of centaurs, he usually thought of proud beings, confident in their life and their power, but the centaur before him stuttered over his words, all confidence lost.

“I-I, uh, yes.  Ever since the forest in Shiganshina.”  He said meekly, fumbling with his human hands in front of him and looking anywhere but Levi.  “I was watching what happened with the unicorn…”

“Was that your voice?”  Levi asked, frowning.  Their voices didn’t sound similar, but he could have been tricked.

“No, no, not at all.  See I don’t have that sort of power, but the unicorns have their own protective spirits.  That’s what you were hearing.”

“I see…”  Levi said quietly, looking to the ground in front of him.  He wanted to ask so many questions, but he couldn’t figure out where to start.  “Thank you for helping me out with gathering the blood.  I hope it didn’t cause you any grief.”

“Ah, it’s not a problem.  You looked really upset and I didn’t like that. I wanted to help. I mean I need to lay low for a while because the unicorn I attacked saw me.  I didn’t hurt him much, but I think I did a bit more damage than I initially intended to, so, I can’t go back to the forest for a while…”

Levi nodded slowly as he listened to the centaur’s story.

“Again, I do thank you and I hope that there is something I can do to repay you.”  Levi finally said, feeling for the vials in his cloak. 

“Ah, no!  I didn’t do it to put you into debt or anything.”  The centaur said, shaking his head.  He looked around before slowly lowering himself to the ground, shaking the earth beneath Levi as he did so.  “It’s just been a very bizarre last few days.  I was on my normal hunt for dinner, and I kind of veered off my normal path when I found you going for the unicorn.  Then after all that happened, I knew I could help, so I did. In some way I was drawn to you, and I couldn’t stop wanting to help you, even if I was just bringing you breakfast.”

“No!”  Levi cried out, much louder than intended.  He cleared his throat and shook his head, speaking much quieter. “No, breakfast was definitely appreciated as well, I assure you.”  He paused for a moment before glancing up at the centaur.  “What is your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

The creature in front of him smiled and shook his head. “I don’t mind at all. My name is Eren.” He said, extending his arm to shake Levi’s hand, which he did.  Levi noted that his grip was quite strong, which only made sense with the sculpted muscles of his arms.

“I’m Levi.”

Eren pulled his hand back and turned to look at the crushed flowers on the ground.  “I only brought flowers today.  I accidentally underestimated my pacing and crushed them, and I wouldn’t have had time to replace them.”  He explained, a deep frown finding its way onto his face.  “You found me while I was contemplating what to do. I think it threw me off, because I’d never been able to get so close to your tent before.”

Levi nodded slowly.  “Usually I put up barriers but I intended on finding out who was leaving me all of these gifts.”  He admitted quietly, his hands moving absentmindedly in his lap. “Because honestly, I really wanted to thank you about the unicorn blood mostly.”

“You said you were making a healing potion?” Eren asked, his voice sounding unsure if he should really be asking.

The wizard bit the inside of his lip before nodding once more.  “Well, not me really. I’m not exactly a master in potions, but a good friend of mine is.  Another friend of mine is really, very sick and very well could not be alive right now. But I haven’t received a letter or anything, so I’m staying positive.  No news is good news, as they say.”  he paused for a moment before continuing.  “She is a very dear friend, and it would pain me to see her pass. We’ve tried everything else aside from this last potion.  It’s our last hope, and I thought I was out of luck completely, but you saved me. You saved her.”

Eren held his hands up in front of him and shook his head.  “Don’t give me that much credit just yet.  You still have to get there. How much farther away do you live?”

Levi thought for a moment before speaking. “I should be there by this afternoon if I keep up the pace I’ve been with.”

Eren looked up to the sky, and it was then that Levi realized the sun had risen farther and the sky was brighter than it had been.  The centaur sighed softly before pushing his body up off of the ground, shaking all four of his legs to wake them back up.

“Since I trampled your flowers, and we’ve been properly acquainted, how about I give you a hand?” he asked, raising his eyebrow. “I can run much faster than you can walk.”

“You’d do that?” Levi asked, wide-eyed.

The centaur grinned down at the wizard and nodded. “But of course. I’ve come this far with you, haven’t I?”

Levi stayed still for a moment before scrambling to his feet.  If Eren gave him a ride, he’d cut down his time significantly, and Isabel would have an even better chance. He needed to get the blood to Hanji before it was too late.

With a flick of his wand, the tent turned into its small ball and he shoved it into one of his cloak pockets.  He turned to Eren, who quickly knelt down with his front legs and Levi carefully climbed onto his back.

“You might want to hold on tight.” Eren warned as he got back onto his feet properly.  “I don’t need you flying off on me now.”

Levi laughed nervously before shifting forward and wrapping his arms around Eren’s torso.

“This is okay?” he asked, leaning somewhat to speak into his ear.  Eren only nodded as he started walking towards the path.  He stopped once they were on the dirt road and turned back to look at Levi.

“Direct me home.” He said with a grin, before sprinting off in the direction Levi had been traveling for the past four days.

The two made it back to Levi’s village that very morning, way sooner than he anticipated, much to his delight. Levi had slid off of Eren’s back as they walked the bare streets of the village to the small cottage he shared with Isabel.  Hanji had been staying there in his place, and was surprised to see them bursting through the door.

“Levi!”  they cried, hands reaching for their hair before their eye’s moved over to the creature walking beside their friend.  “Centaur?”

“Eren.”  Levi stated simply as he walked up to the door.  He reached into his cloak and pulled out the three vials of silver unicorn blood, causing Hanji’s eye’s to widen even further.

“Three vials?  I only needed half of one.”  They muttered, taking one of the vials from Levi’s grip.

“I know.  I couldn’t even get one.”

“You have three!”

Levi cleared his throat and looked up at Eren, who had taken to looking between the two friends with an amused expression on his face.

“Actually, Eren.” He paused as he gestured to the centaur beside him.  “Is the one that got the three vials after I was nearly killed by a lightning strike, thanks to some protective spirits or something.

“Those were real?  I thought it was just a myth.”  Hanji asked, cocking their head to the side.

“I will tell you about everything later, however. How is Isabel?” Levi asked, crossing his arms across his chest while holding the remaining two vials in his hand.

Hanji nodded slowly and sighed. “Thing’s have gone a bit downhill, but she’s still with us.  And now we have unicorn blood, thanks to, uh…”

“Eren.”  The centaur stated, holding out one of his hands.  “It’s nice to meet you.”

Hanji blinked as they shook Eren’s hand before clearing their throat.  “Right. Thanks to Eren. I’m going to get to work right away, I should have this concoction done by tonight.”  They said quickly before scurrying back into the cottage.

Levi couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face, relieved that his journey hadn’t been all for naught.  He turned back up to Eren with the same smile and the centaur couldn’t help but smile back.

“I really wish I could make it up to you some day.” Levi said turning to face the creature properly.  “You’ve helped me so much these last few days.”

“Levi, like I said, I wasn’t doing this to get anything out of you.  Except maybe friendship. Lord knows after what I did in the dark forest, I’m going to need a few more of those.”

Levi chuckled quietly and nodded. “Then a friend you will receive.”

**Author's Note:**

> mythology and fantasy isn't exactly my forte, but i tried! thank you for reading and thank you for all kind comments and kudos, i love seeing them :D
> 
>  
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> [tumblr!](http://tscwrites.tumblr.com)


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